Uruguay Industry

Uruguay: Industrial production deteriorates in August

October 13, 2015

Industrial production worsened in August and recorded the largest contraction in over a year, falling 1.2% in annual terms. August’s result contrasted July’s 7.3% expansion. The decrease largely reflected falling output in the manufacture of rubber and plastic, non-metallic minerals and basic metals.

Excluding the contribution of the La Teja refinery—the country’s only oil refinery and a key contributor to overall production—industrial output dropped 3.1% in August, which marked the worst result in 16 months and contrasted the 7.0% rise tallied in July. The trend continues to point downward: annual average variation in industrial output inched down from 6.8% in July to 6.7% in August.

Panelists surveyed for this month’s LatinFocus report expect industrial production to increase 4.8% in 2015, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2016, the panel sees industrial output growth at 2.7%, which is down 0.7 percentage points from last month’s Consensus.